I'll Take You Home and Make You Some Soup
by reginassthief
Summary: Prompt. One shot. Robin finds Regina sick in her office and takes her home and makes her chicken noodle soup. -Alyssa.


_'Prompt: Robin finds Regina sick in her office and takes her home and makes her chicken noodle soup.'_

\- Alyssa.

 **Well, this turned out to be an educational experience for everyone involved. I once again fail at being female...because I had to look up how to even make chicken noodle soup (hides in shame because I'm that inept) despite the fact that the recipe isn't mentioned anywhere in this but anyway this is for Alyssa and anyone else interested :).**

It doesn't surprise him when he walks into Regina's office to find her with her eyes closed, head resting on her fist, the bin beside her, and her skin more pale than it was this morning.

Robin knew she was sick since this morning, even went as far to tell her that she looked a little whiter. She'd brushed him off of course, told him she was fine and continued getting ready, perhaps lingering a little bit around sinks and bins. Then she left with a hasty goodbye, leaving Robin to worry about her.

He tried coming to see her sooner yet Roland seemed to have other plans- plans that didn't involve staying in a stuffy office 'with nothing to do there', And Robin had to admit that he didn't think taking Roland with him was a good idea. The boy seemed to have a lot of built up excitement today and Robin didn't think Roland would understand that Regina wouldn't want him climbing all over her. So, Robin put off seeing Regina (she wouldn't listen to him anyway, he tells himself) and attempts to focus on Roland's laughter as he runs around the park, his mind still deciding whether or not to call John to ask him to look after Roland for a bit.

It's finally lunchtime when he changes his mind. Doesn't care that John could be busy, doesn't care that Regina would deny that there was anything wrong with her and send him away, he was going to see if she was still alive at least.

So despite not being surprised at the way she is, Robin still can't help but feel guilty that he left her like this for so long. So he walks over to her desk, grabs the hand that lazily holds a pen and tells her, _I'm taking you home._ Her tiny protests of, _No, I need to do the paperwork,_ are hollow as she's already allowing herself to be pulled out of her chair.

By the time they've gotten home he's practically ordering her _to lie down somewhere_ because, by this point, she's leaning into him a little too much. When she opts for the couch (because it's closer and he honestly thinks she knows she can't manage the stairs) he uses them himself to get the quilt from her bed and something a little more comfortable to wear.

Once Robin's back downstairs, he helps her sort the cover out and as she changes goes in search for a bowl. When he finds one, he comes back into the front room to find Regina already snuggled underneath the quilt with her eyes closed. He places the bowl on the floor and kneels beside it, his hand coming up to brush her fallen hair out of the way.

Despite her eyes being closed she's not asleep. A muffled _where is Roland?_ cuts its way through the air.

''Out with John,'' Robin says. ''He'll be back later.''

Regina nods a little and by that response Robin knows her head hurts. Then he frowns as he comes to conclusion as to what her source of sickness could be.

''Have you eaten today?''

Regina shakes her head, then her face scrunches up in pain as she whispers, ''I don't want to eat.''

Robin sighs. She didn't have much yesterday either. He stands up, tells her that he's _going to find her something._ Regina doesn't reply, she just shifts slightly, her eyes still closed.

With one last glance, Robin goes into the kitchen and begins searching or something quick and small to eat. He knows when you haven't eaten much not to go for something big. When he searches into a cupboard, he finds the thing that might do. Chicken noodle soup. He guesses it's one of those things Regina bought and never thought to eat. _Well, she is now,_ he thinks.

But now was time for the hard part: working the cooker. When Robin first woke up here, he genuinely believed that things could somehow be easier than they were in the Enchanted Forest and he guessed they were, for the first days living here, this land's forest to his world's forest, but then this thing called technology came and well...that complicated things. He vowed to stay away from it, just stay in the forest where things were the same, but then he met Regina, and he met this giant metal thing and never did he think he could ever hate an object as much as he hated this thing.

So he stares at it, not sure which button to twist or press. Regina had showed him how to use it, but it was brief and at the beginning and he thought she had better things to do than teach him how to use something that everyone should know how to use, so he didn't ask any more questions even though he was still confused by the time she finished. Something he was now realising he regretted.

''You turn the dial on the left towards the wall.''

And Robin can't help but smile as he does what Regina shouted. Even sick and half asleep she still somehow knows he needs help. A bit of pride sneaks in when the blue flame appears (why is it blue again) and he pours the contents of the tin into the pan (luckily all the ingredients needed are already in the pan) and the rest of it is easy.

When the soup has been warmed up and moved into a bowl, Robin makes his way back into the front room. Regina's eyes are opened slightly and he lets out a soft _hey_ before coming other to her. He takes a brief glance at the bowl he'd brought in earlier for her and is grateful when he sees it's empty.

''Are you okay to eat?'' he asks.

''I think so.''

He walks over to the couch, hands her the bowl, then sits on the end of the couch, moves her feet out of the way before bringing them back over to him to rub circles on them while she eats.

He doesn't watch her, she hates it when people do that, so focuses his attention on the floor, wonders when John would be bringing Roland back. Henry would be finishing with school in an hour, maybe he can palm if off with Emma for a bit, perhaps persuade John to look after Roland for a bit longer, just long enough for Regina to get her strength back before the house goes back to normal again.

It's the bowl being placed on the table that brings him out of his thoughts. Regina hasn't eaten all of it, but at least it's a start. He watches her snuggle back down into the quilt and close her eyes again, this time, no doubt, going to sleep. He watches her for a minute, his fingers still rubbing circles on her foot and decides that, if tomorrow she's feeling better, he's going to help her eat a bit better.


End file.
